Friday, December 5, 2003

JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED UPDATE

Victor Rivers is voicing a key character in "Starcrossed," the three-part season finale of Cartoon Network's Justice League.

Rivers is voicing a character named Hro Talak, who will not be called Hawkman in the episode.

Rivers is a veteran character actor who appeared in the Hulk movie. His voice animation credits include several roles on Batman Beyond.

In other Justice League news:

* Saturday's episode on Cartoon Nework is "Wild Card." In the ultimate reality show, the Joker pits the Justice League against the clock and against the Royal Flush Gang as the Justice League races to find and disarm all the bombs he's planted along the Strip in Las Vegas.

* Sources tell The Continuum that the third season of the show might be called Justice League Unlimited. The season will feature many new characters, although Martian Manhunter will remain a key character.

Among the characters apppearing next season will be Captain Atom, Red Tornado, Atom, Black Canary and Green Arrow.

* Look for more Justice League news soon here in The Continuum.

DAREDEVIL ON HBO

The Daredevil live-action movie will debut on HBO on Saturday, Feb. 7, nearly one year after it bowed in theaters.

X-MEN MOVIE UPDATE

Bryan Singer is in talks to direct a third X-Men movie, Daily Variety reported on Friday.

Fox has signed a two-year development deal with Singer and his production company Bad Hat Harry.

"We are always wary of sequels because so often they are an invitation to mediocrity, because not enough attention is paid to the skills that allowed the first film to succeed," Fox production president Hutch Parker told Variety. "We had such a fantastic experience with Bryan on X2 -- he was a great partner who navigated the process, which included the magnitude of the budget, the number of visual effects, and our desire to build on the first film and make a better and more satisfying movie. The deal is an outgrowth of the strong relationship we built on those two films."

At last summer's Comic-Con International in San Diego, Singer told The Continuum he had ideas for a third film. "We have an idea where we would go," he said. "We'll see."

In other X-Men movie news, X2 took in an estimated $17 million in weekly rental revenue in its first five days, adding to a $107 million sales total during that span. X2 topped the sales charts, with the X-Men Collection (with X-Men and X2) placing No. 9.

IDW'S UNDERWORLD MINI-SERIES

Underworld, the motion picture that detailed the long-standing enmity between vampiric Death Dealers and Lycans, told only a small part of the overall story of this centuries-old blood feud. Now -- with the participation of Danny McBride‹one of the film's screenwriters -- IDW Publishing, through a license with Sony Pictures Consumer Products, is prepared to show more of the legend: a long-ago encounter between vampires and werewolves, on the plains of Africa.

Underworld: Red in Tooth and Claw is co-plotted by McBride and Kris Oprisko, the writer who penned the comic-book adaptation of the movie, with a script by Oprisko. The art team for the adaptation, Nick Postic and Nick Marinkovich, returns for the mini-series as well.

"Our Underworld movie adaptation was a big hit," IDW's editor-in-chief Jeff Mariotte said. ³People loved that it was a faithful adaptation of the movie, and Nick and Nick really captured the dark, horrific mood. But there is so much history the filmmakers couldn't fit into one movie that we have a huge canvas to work with, and with the participation of Danny McBride we're going to fill in some of the gaps in that history."

Underworld: Red in Tooth and Claw is a three-issue mini-series of full color, 32-page comic books, launching in February with a retail price of $3.99.

GAIL SIMONE EXCLUSIVE TO DC

Writer Gail Simone -- whose recent credts include Birds of Prey, Rose & Thorn and Agent X -- has signed a one-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics. Among other projects, Simone is working on an upcoming story arc for JLA illustrated by Jose Luis García-Lopez and Klaus Janson.

"From the moment I started working with DC, they've been nothing short of phenomenal," Simone said. "I literally don't have a single decent complaint! I'm working with fantastic, brilliant editors like Mike Carlin, Lysa Hawkins, and Steve Wacker, on a wide variety of books. So, yes, I'm happy. Ecstatic might be a better word. Can't wait to announce some of the upcoming plans... people are gonna be amazed, I think.

"But there's more to it than just that. Speaking with Dan DiDio, it's obvious he has a plan he's committed to, and it's one that makes sense to me: make interesting books and promote them well. There's a new willingness to shake things up, the whole organization is trying new things, and there's great respect for the readers and retailers, which I think is crucial. It's very exciting and I'm thrilled to be a part of it."

"Gail brings a new and distinctive voice to the DCU," said DiDio, DC's VP -- Editorial. "As a writer, adds to the energy and excitement here, and her tone provides a nice complement to many of our other writers."

THUNDERCATS UPDATE

Art studio Grafiksismik has illustrated "Sword of Omens," an 8-page story in the upcoming Thundercats: Origins -- Villains and Heroes #1, shpping on Dec. 17 from DC Comics.

"Sword of Omens," examines the origin of the Sword of Omens a key
piece of weaponry in the Thundercats' battle against evil, and one with a
startling history.

Working from a script by Ford Gilmore, artist Dub will
pencil, with Pierre Andre Dery providing inks and Joelle coloring.

"It's always fun to work on things that you grew up watching on TV,
especially one like Thundercats which featured such cool character
designs," said Dub.

Dery, also the studio's art director, said, "It was great to have the opportunity to play with those characters and we look forward drawing more Thundercats comics in the future."

Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

BRIEFLY

Plans are for the entire second season of X-Men: Evolution to be released on DVD through next year from Warner Home Video. There's no word yet if Kids' WB! is picking up the show for a fifth season.

Bonus Books, through its imprint Volt Press, is releasing Eleven: Top Cow's Tale of Revolution and Art, celebrating the 11th anniversary of the studio. The book, written by Marc Silvestri, features more than 250 pages of Top Cow's art, including Tomb Raider, Witchblade, The Darkness, Fathom, Cyberforce and Ripclaw. Each copy of the book will be individually numbered.

Writer Warren Ellis has announced that his deal with DC Comics has been fulfilled and he will spend at least the next six months non-exclusive.

Dimension Films has acquired film rights to Steve Niles' Hyde, a comic-book proposal that re-imagines the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde horror story.

Coming Saturday: TV news -- and much more!!!

COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES

In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links:

Giant Spider-Man jigsaw puzzle is so big and lifelike, kids will feel like theyï¿1Ž2ve made a new pal. Shaped puzzle is a full three-feet tall and contains 100 pieces. Based on the hit Spider-man movie character. Ages 5 and up.